Hundreds of care workers employed by a large charity in Scotland are striking this week as part of an ongoing pay dispute.
Enable Scotland employees previously took industrial action in May and June this year but held another strike yesterday after failing to agree terms and are planning to do so again tomorrow.
Trade union UNISON, which represents around 650 of the charity’s workers, has claimed that their wages fall short of covering their living costs.
It has therefore called for a “substantial improvement” to the hourly rate that Enable Scotland’s employees, and other care workers in Scotland, receive.
The union has criticised the Scottish government, which funds Enable Scotland, for not investing more money into social care services.
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “These care workers have been underpaid for far too long. Going on strike is the last thing they want to do, but they’ve been left with no other option.
“They deliver vital care to some of the most vulnerable people in the country, yet their wages simply aren’t enough to live on.
“The Scottish government must do the right thing by better funding social care and showing workers that they value them by paying them fair, decent wages.”
Charity ‘disappointed’ by decision to strike
An Enable Scotland spokesperson said: “Enable is disappointed by the decision to strike, but we are working positively with UNISON on our shared principle of minimising the adverse impact of this action on the people we support.
“Significantly enhanced pay beyond the real living wage is entirely dependent on external funding.
“Enable has worked with UNISON to advance fair work across the social care sector for a number of years, and we would welcome a national pay settlement for the charity sector social care workforce which is on a par with pay deals for care workers in the public sector.”
The Scottish government’s social care minister Tom Arthur said: “We value the vital role social care workers play in delivering high-quality care.
“Whilst pay negotiations are a matter for trade unions and employers, I urge both parties to continue to work together to reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for Enable.
“Our 2025-26 Scottish budget provides an additional £125m to enable adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services, to be paid at least the real living wage of £12.60 an hour. This takes our total investment in improving social care pay to £950m.
“We are committed to further improving support for the social care workforce and the introduction of sectoral bargaining for the commissioned adult social care sector is progressing well. Once in place this will help see improvements in pay, and terms and conditions.”
